Westmark Lies and Deceit Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #1

"But your pamphlet said you were a doctor."

"As occasion demands. I have, my boy, spent my life in constant study. Initiate in the Delphic Mysteries, in the Grand Arcana, adviser to His Exalted Serenity, the prince of Trebizonia. I have been instructed by the Great Copta himself in summoning spirits of the dead—with, naturally, a reasonable amount of help from the living."

"You mean," said Theo, "you're no doctor at all."

"Don't take such a narrow view," replied the count. "I assure you, I have lightened more suffering with tubs of magnetized water than most esteemed surgeons have done with lancets and leeches. Those who, for some inscrutable reason, stubbornly refuse to benefit—if I didn't cure them at least I didn't harm them, which cannot be said for a number of your learned bloodletters." (4.17-20)

What's truth got to do with it? Las Bombas says he's a good doctor, but he doesn't have a degree of any sort—and when Theo calls him on it, he says he's probably done more good with what Theo thinks are tricks than some docs have done in their whole careers. Is what's seemingly deceitful always harmful?

Quote #2

"The subjects of His Majesty," he was saying, "require the finest guidance. The people yearn for it, without even realizing what it is they yearn for. These scribblers cause nothing but unrest. Their deaths, beyond question, will serve a higher purpose than their lives: the good of the kingdom. I bear them no personal animosity, but I would fail in my duty if I did otherwise. They will, at least, be spared the needless humiliation of a public trial." (5.3)

Cabbarus is just playing himself. He wants to justify his repressive actions, which allow him to keep an eye on the citizens of Westmark, by saying that they need him to do so, that they want him as their Big Brother figure, even if they don't know it. Even their deaths don't sit on his conscience. Who knew Westmark was part of Orwell's society to keep Cabbarus in power?

Quote #3

"Slugs." roared Las Bombas. "He switched the packets. But--- I had my eye on the real one every second. I never left his side, only when he was fast asleep and I went out to the yard for pebbles. I wasn't gone a minute--- That wretch. He was shamming. Robber. How dare he pass himself off as an alderman."

The count ran to the stable door and shook his fist into the night. "Villain. Little sneak."

He turned back to Theo. "Ah, my poor lad, there's a lesson for you. Never trust a stranger. What a world, with so many thieves abroad in it." (6.39-41)

Las Bombas is a funny guy—he's a trickster, but then he gets mad at Skeit the alderman for fooling him. He's a bit of a hypocrite, lamenting the presence of thieves in the world, when he's such a scam artist. For him and Skeit, lies are just as real as the truth.